Secret ballot to show Tory MPs views on Europe

Is a Euro-sceptic stance within the Tory party really a minority view?

SIR – The media describes the Euro-sceptic viewpoint inside the Conservative Party as a minority. But how do we know that? Ninety-five Tory MPs have declared their hand by asking for a more urgent referendum. That leaves about 210. Half of these are the payroll vote, bound never to disagree publicly with the party line on pain of dismissal; another 105 have chosen to remain mute. Some of these may be EU enthusiasts, others simply hoping for preferment. But what do they really think?

It should not be beyond the wit of the 1922 Committee to organise a simple secret ballot of the 210. A single question, two alternate boxes for a cross in either, an otherwise plain no-name ballot form and a ballot box in a prominent place. It could be that, with guaranteed confidentiality, over 60 would admit to Euro-scepticism. That would make them, with the 95, a majority.

In a democracy is it not the wishes of the majority that are supposed to prevail? In the referendum of 1975, voters supported staying in the European Economic Community, and for the next 17 years, until Maastricht, the dissenters accepted the result. That is the British way of doing things. Stopping people having a vote, and calling them troublemakers is not our way.

SIR – As with all special interest tax reliefs, the introduction of this one will have the long-term effect of increasing the average cost of child care, as providers raise their fees until they reach the full charge that the market will bear.

It would be so much better to reduce the overall rates of income tax instead.

John Archibald London N20

Rhododendron shelter

SIR – We have a large old rhododendron bush in our garden, which I think is a rhododendron ponticum. It has been there for at least 50 years.

The bush does not discourage wildlife: ivy, bramble and holly grow profusely underneath it, and it is used as a shelter for many small birds. Dunnocks, robins and tits can be seen regularly in the bush, and it once housed a blackbirds’ nest.

Helen OliverBeckenham Kent

SIR – The reason for banning rhododendrons is because they are believed to act as host to the pathogen that causes sudden oak death. Many of the large estates and well-known gardens in Cornwall, including the Lost Gardens of Heligan, have already carried out extensive programmes of uprooting and burning the most commonly seen rhododendron ponticum.

Something else in a shopping basket can easily pierce the bag, and then you get an explosion of flour. Is this form of packaging to do with moisture retention?

Rose TannerEast Peckham, Kent

Chancellor’s vision

SIR – Since entering Parliament in 1983, I have had a ringside view of eight chancellors, and I believe that George Osborne already compares favourably to all of them.

He has a strong vision of an enterprise Britain that can compete in a ruthless global race, recognising that every small business and entrepreneur deserves encouragement because out of their ranks will emerge the great companies of tomorrow. Firms will only succeed if they have motivated workforces, so this is why the Chancellor is so keen on raising the basic tax threshold and increasing the minimum wage. This will help to increase productivity and investment.

Today’s Budget is a step forward from what was a ghastly economic inheritance, but it is also another step on the way to Mr Osborne establishing himself as one the great post-war chancellors.

Henry Bellingham MP (Con)London, SW1

HMRC fantasy

SIR – An impact assessment by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs concluded that people who are dragged into the 40 per cent tax band and see their disposable incomes fall “may choose to work more in order to maintain their post-tax incomes”.

Most employees in the 40 per cent band will find either that their employers can’t offer them more hours, or won’t pay them overtime, even if they do work more.

Keith Appleyard West Wickham, Kent

Ripe bananas

SIR – I tasted my first English banana in the Fifties, aged 12, on arrival at a Sussex boarding school from a southern Indian one. In my first letter home, I commented on how “dry and horrible the English bananas were”.

I still do not care for the taste of those on offer here; good mashed banana sandwiches require soft, sweet, ripe fruit.

Frances FinchWelland, Worcestershire

SIR – When the first consignments of bananas reached our village shop in straw-filled wooden boxes at the end of the Second World War, our concern was not with the quality of the fruit but with the huge tropical spiders that had survived the journey.

Roy Jones Quorn, Leicestershire

The party politics behind garden cities and HS2

SIR – You report that Tories are thought to be reluctant to build a garden city in Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire or Oxfordshire because they fear a backlash from rural voters in safe Conservative seats in those areas.

What a pity that same rationale wasn’t applied when the decision was made to push ahead with HS2.

Neil BlakeAylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire

SIR – We should be developing brownfield sites within walking and cycling distance of London’s business districts. This would also have the advantage of bringing investment, light and life to areas urgently in need of all three.

London needs New York-style, quality high-rise living, not more miserable commuters.

Victor Launert Matlock, Derbyshire

SIR – The idea of garden cities, in its historical sense, may not on its own be able to solve the housing crisis. People are still going to be drawn to the bright lights of the city.

Another solution would be garden suburbs, built on the outskirts of large cities. The garden city principles, including long-term stewardship, together with the delivery of a sustainable and well-designed community, might be captured as much in that format as in a stand-alone new settlement.

Aman SahotaLondon EC4

SIR – George Osborne’s plan for garden cities sounds so delightful, but I can’t help thinking that with the economic restrictions and limited land available they will end up more city than garden.